2000s

The year 2000 started off with Y2K panic and ended with an unclear Presidential election. While we saw advances in the form of iPods, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, iPhones and DVDs, we also experienced the 9/11 terror attacks, the invasion of Iraq and Hurricane Katrina. At Divine Savior Healthcare, change was abounding. This decade saw the addition of a new clinic on Portage's north side, followed by a brand new, state-of-the-art hospital.

The hospital building was dedicated on October 2, 2003, by Bishop George O. Wirz, Auxiliary Bishop of Madison.

Over 200 people witnessed the breaking of the ground in May 2002 on the site where the new hospital was going to be built.

A Medical Office Building was built on Eastridge Drive on Portage's north side in 2000. This building was first home to Home Care, Community Health Education, Rehab Services, Occupational Health, Physical Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Diagnostics and Orthopedics.

CEO Michael Decker speaks at the dedication of the new Medical Office Building in 2000.

The Healing Savior, which shows the Savior carrying another person, is a 7-foot-high sculpture that stands above the fountain in the pond in front of Divine Savior Healthcare.

Sister Beverly Heitke, SDS, a native of Portage, served as sponsorship coordinator through major changes and growth in the 1990s and 2000s.

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NEWS ARTICLE

Portage's New Hospital

The beauty of the new Divine Savior Healthcare is indisputable. When entering the new hospital, you step into a light-filled atrium with a 75-foot ceiling and skylight.

Gardens both inside and outside of the building are part of the healing atmosphere. It has little resemblance to the old hospital on the hill in Portage, soon to be vacated.

Visitors to Portage's new Divine Savior Healthcare facility during the open house this weekend will have an opportunity never to be available again.

73,000

Square feet in the medical center/clinic built on Portage's north side in 2000

143,000

Square feet in the new hospital built in 2003

QUOTABLE

"We are happy to finally open our doors to the public. During the entire designing and building process, we worked closely with the architects and contractors to make sure our patients' input on quality care was considered."

– Michael Decker, Divine Savior Healthcare president and CEO, upon the new hospital opening

TIMELINE

2000

Divine Savior Healthcare opens the doors of its 73,000-square-foot Medical Center (Clinic) on the north side of Portage. This building is home to Home Care, Community Health Education, Rehab Services, Occupational Health, Physical Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Diagnostics and Orthopedics.